It is believed that examples of known fuel injection systems use an injector to dispense a quantity of fuel that is to be combusted in an internal combustion engine. It is also believed that the quantity of fuel that is dispensed is varied in accordance with a number of engine parameters such as engine speed, engine load, engine emissions, etc.
It is believed that examples of known electronic fuel injection systems monitor at least one of the engine parameters and electrically operate the injector to dispense the fuel. It is believed that examples of known injectors use electromagnetic coils, piezoelectric elements, or magnetostrictive materials to actuate a valve.
It is believed that examples of known valves for injectors include a closure member that is movable with respect to a seat. Fuel flow through the injector is believed to be prohibited when the closure member sealingly contacts the seat, and fuel flow through the injector is believed to be permitted when the closure member is separated from the seat.
It is believed that examples of known injectors include a spring providing a force biasing the closure member toward the seat. It is also believed that this biasing force is adjustable in order to set the dynamic properties of the closure member movement with respect to the seat.
It is further believed that examples of known injectors include a filter for separating particles from the fuel flow, and include a seal at a connection of the injector to a fuel source.
It is believed that such examples of the known injectors have a number of disadvantages.
It is believed that examples of known injectors must be assembled entirely in an environment that is substantially free of contaminants. It is also believed that examples of known injectors can only be tested after final assembly has been completed.
According to the present invention, a fuel injector can comprise a plurality of modules, each of which can be independently assembled and tested. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the modules can comprise a fluid handling subassembly and an electrical subassembly. These subassemblies can be subsequently assembled to provide a fuel injector according to the present invention.
The present invention provides for a method of manufacturing a modular fuel injector. The method comprises providing a clean room, manufacturing a sealed fuel injector unit via a predetermined number of operations by fabricating a fuel group in the clean room; testing the fuel injector including testing the fuel group and a power group; performing welding operations on at least one of the fuel group and power group; machining and performing screw machine operations on at least one of the fuel group and power group; and assembling the fuel group with a power group outside the clean room into a sealed modular fuel injector unit. Each of the fabricating, testing, performing, machining and assembling operation comprises, respectively, a specified range of the predetermined number of operations.
The present invention further provides a method of assembling a modular fuel injector. The method comprises providing a clean room, assembling a ready-to-deliver modular fuel injector unit by a predetermined number of assembling operations. The assembling operations include fabricating a fuel group in the clean room that comprises between 52 to 62 percent of the predetermined number of operations; testing the fuel injector including testing the fuel group and a power group that comprises between 3 to 13 percent of the predetermined number of operations; performing welding operations on at least one of the fuel group and power group that comprise between 3 to 8 percent of the predetermined number of operations; machining and performing machine screw operations on at least one of the fuel group and power group that comprise between 3 to 9 percent of the predetermined number of operations; and assembling the fuel group with a power group outside the clean room into a ready-to-deliver modular fuel injector unit that comprises between 12 to 22 percent of the predetermined number of operations.